This is Emily. She is about to become your hair’s new best friend.

Not really. You’re far too late. I’ve already dibbsed her as my hair’s new best friend. Guess you should work on your speed work.

There’s a reason Emily and my hair are now wearing the two parts to a BFF charm necklace. Thursday something magical happened. Emily taught me to do my hair. Yes. At the age of 25, I learned to do my hair.

Better late than never.

Please tell me there are others out there. Girls who are girly in the sense that they have to pretend to know what’s going on while watching football, and secretly channel Marilyn Monroe when putting on lipstick, and love a good chick lit novel–but somehow missed out on Basic Woman School. You know, where you learned how to put on eyeliner and wear high heels longer than two hours and make your hair look good.

Have mercy I cannot do my hair.

Recently Emily took pity on me. Let me tell you a few things about her. First off, she’s hilarious. Like really, really funny. Second off, her hair always looks amazing. Like shampoo commercial amazing. Third, she can wear  mens plaid shirts and look completely pulled together.

Try not to hate her. Because she’s here to help.

Back combing is a big thing here in Utah. Literally. There’s an amusement park just north of Salt Lake that I like to think of as the Bump-It Capitol of the world. Girlfriend could hide a hamster in all that mess.

But if done right, backcombing can be awesome.  You can fake all kinds of amazing body and lift! You can hide your egg shaped head! You can do lots of other stuff that require exclamation points! (I am generally frugal with these, but good back combing really is awesome.)

!

Emily, bless her, has agreed to demonstrate her sophisticated ratting techniques on camera. Here are a few things I learned:

1. Use a fine toothed comb
2. Work with small sections of hair
3. Back comb hair along the shape of your head (if you’re backcombing the hair right above your ear keep your comb’s teeth pointed towards that spot, not slanted towards front of head, etc.)
4. Back comb with circular motions.
5. Comb down the top layer of hair so your hair looks smooth on top.

Emily demonstrates here. 20111110_195514 (If your video is choppy you can right-click the link and save it.)

Is your hair looking for a new best friend? Call Emily. She’s a genius. She works at Salon MC in Salt Lake City. Email her at Emily.Matthews@gmail.com.

Just do it.

Now get out there and work your hair ladies. Next up: How to CURL YOUR HAIR. Brace yourselves. I’ve been walking around with sexy wavy hair for the past 4 days.